Hybrids - Long On Mileage, Short On Soul

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Shoot, for those mileage numbers you could buy a MINI and have 3Xs the fun and the same gas mileage.

Hmmm....body roll, eh? I do recall that driving the Prius would be a lot like taking Mom's sofa out for a spin, but body roll in itself does not inhibit a car from being fun or from handling well (I mean, look at French cars) ---it just won't be very balanced going to turns aggressively, so you'll have to drift through them---not the fastest way around a race track, to be sure.

Of course, if you add body roll to lack of power, a CVT and non-supportive seating, then it starts to get ugly.

Essentially, what they are telling us is that Japanese automakers look to the USA to market their "interesting" cars, not to the domestic market.

I think that the most real car lovers exist in the U.S. And the reason for this is because the best cars come from the U.S. Think 60's cars here. What a design decade!

And there's plenty of us baby boomers who remember that decade well. I just think we still love the best cars from the best carmakers, and they used to be from the U.S. Ford is really strong again and some of GM is getting turned around. And from all the Charger's, Magnum's and Avengers I see around Arizona and Nevada,I think a lot of people around here still love Chrysler. Maybe this new Fiatsler thing will really work out well for those two automakers.

So if Japanese carmakers are "testing" new rigs out on us I could really understand it as being true. I just love the stuff Mitsubishi is laying out these days, too. Their new "baby" Outlander, the Outlander Sport, is a fine new Outlander that I am going to have to take a closer look at. It would be perfect for these new cold environs I'm in in northeastern Nevada.

"Honda is set to provide the CR-Z with an all-new four-cylinder gasoline-engine option as part of plans to broaden the compact coupe's appeal in key world markets, including North America.

With forced induction and Honda's patented VTEC-i fully variable camshaft-timing system, the new 1.6-liter engine is aimed at providing the performance of a typical 2.0-liter engine. sources in Japan say the new engine is likely to be offered in two guises: a standard version making about 160 hp and a highly tuned version aimed at matching the 200 hp of the discontinued 2.0-liter four-cylinder used in the Civic Type R. The latter engine is likely to form the basis of a CR-Z Type R tentatively due out in late 2011.

Plans to go beyond the single hybrid-engine option for the CR-Z come as sales of the coupe have begun to sag in Honda's all-important home market. The Japanese carmaker's intentions to add a gasoline engine to the lineup were first hinted at with the CR-Z Type R concept revealed at the recent SEMA show in Las Vegas. Unlike the proposed production version though, that car ran a turbocharged version of the CR-Z's existing 1.5-liter four-cylinder."